Hello fantastic readers! First of all, I want to apologize for not posting in quite awhile. The past few months have been quite hectic from moving back to New York to still commuting to New Jersey for work to this. I am now in New York for good with no more commuting and a new teaching job in Brooklyn! Yay! That gives me a whole lot more time to think about cooking and sharing recipes.

I have been thinking a lot about different recipe ideas for the blog, particularly since it is summer or “summer-spring” as my 5-year-old nephew called it, what with all the rain and cool weather we’ve been having recently. Things like: Grilled Corn and Black Bean Salad, Southwestern Gazpacho, Gigantes and Salt-Kissed Buttermilk Cake…all recipes I will post in the near future. Since finding out that I am pregnant, I have not been eating 100% gluten free, although I still cook many gluten free meals. With that in mind, I will be posting some gluten free foods as well as things that may contain gluten. (I will be sure to post disclaimers for gluten-filled food.)

Onto the recipe! I have seen this recipe for Orange Almond Cake many times. But never had the gall to try it…whole boiled oranges? Really? But let me tell you, this is one outrageously, moist, delicious, just sweet enough cake that needs no frosting or hoopla. Brian is a big fan of this cake and so were the lovely ladies at my book club and one of their beautiful toddler-aged daughters.

The orignal recipe can be attributed to Claudia Roden who is a UK-based cookbook writer who was born in Egypt in the 1930s. There are slight variations of this recipe all over the internet and I made my own slight revisions as well.

The first time I made the cake I baked it in a 9 x 13 inch glass Pyrex dish. The second time I made the cake I halved the recipe and baked it in an 8-inch round cake pan. Both times the cake came out great. With the Pyrex I left it in the pan and cut out squares and with the cake pan I lined the bottom with parchment and unmolded the cake, which worked quite well (see picture).

As a side note-this cake can be made Kosher for Passover if you remove the baking powder. I have seen some posts where they whip the eggs whites and fold in the yolks to give the cake more volume after removing the baking powder…let me know if you try this method! I think this cake tastes even better the second day so feel free to make it a day in advance.

Enjoy!

Orange Almond Cake

1. Pre-heat oven to 350. Lightly grease and line a 9 x 13 inch cake pan with parchment. Or, if you are going to serve it from the pan, save your parchment for another day and just lightly grease the pan.

2. Wash the oranges and place in a large pot. Cover with water, bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer the oranges for about 2 hours, making sure not to let the water cook all the way down and burn the bottom of the pan (thanks to Brian and OxiClean for taking care of that little mishap!).

3. Once oranges are cooked, allow them to cool. Then cut them open, remove any seeds and as much of the pith as possible. Then, skin and all, puree the oranges in a food processor.

4. Measure out 1 ¼ cups of the puree. The rest can be kept in the fridge for the next cake OR it will probably freeze well if another cake is not likely in the near future.

5. Beat the eggs, sugar and baking powder with an electric mixer or whisk until thickened and pale in color.

6. Add in the almond flour and mix in well.

7. Fold in the orange puree until combined.

8. Pour into prepared pan and bake for about 35-40 minutes. The cake is ready when a skewer comes out clean.

9. Let cool for 10 minutes before turning out or cool to room temperature before slicing and serving.